Spring clip rail fastener



June 11, 1940. G. M. MAGr-:E

A SPRING CLIP RAIL FASTENER Filed June 29. 1939 INVENTOR.

e, C m W N A it u MIN @mm Patented June 11, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 'LM.ATE

7 Claims.

fectively holding a rail upon its tie plate against movement in any direction relative to the tie plate except a limited upward movement. My

invention may be used in conjunction with a cutv spike, screw spike, through bolt or other suitable fastening for the following more specific objects: lo to provide a spring reacting force to secure the rail to 4the tie plate in a firm but `flexible manner; to prevent the rail from moving on the tie plate in a direction parallel to the rail axis; to properly provide for the wave motion or unl5 dulation of the rail under traic and at the same time to limit the vertical uplift of the rail; to firmly secure the tie plate upon its tie and'thus minimize tie wear; and to provide means whereby the wave motion or undulation of the rail under traffic is permitted without danger of withdrawing the spike o'r like holding means from its safe and operative position. My invention may be used in conjunction with continuous welded rails where joint bars are not required,l or with rails of ordinary length where joint bars are ernployed. j

It is known that rails in service undergo an undulating or wave motion under load, and it is also known that this wave motion tends to cause objectionable longitudinal movement of the rail and mechanical wear of rail, tie plate, ancl tie unless the rail, tie plate, and tie are secured so as to properly limit movement of one with respect to the others. A rigid fastening of the rail, tie plate, and tie assembly requires strong and expensive fastenings to resist the inertia and impact forces occurring in the track struc- 'ture under traflic. The novel spring clip rail fastener of my inventionprovides suilicient elas- 40 ticity to absorb these impact and inertia forces without undue strain on the fastening and yet provides a spring clip which firmly limits the upward movement of the rail during the time the wave motion occurs and provides the desired limitation of movement of rail, tie plate, and tie relative to each other.

To obtain the above briefly stated objects and others which will present themselves as the nature of my invention is better understood, and to overcome the objections of devices heretofore known to me, I have invented a novel spring clip fastener for rails residing in novel features of construction, combination and operative associations of parts, a satisfactory embodiment QI (Cl. 23S-349) which is disclosed by the accompanying Vdrawing in which:

Figure 1 is a topplan view,

Figure 2is a section on line 22 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a view of the spring clip fastener 5 showing its cooperation with a portion of a rail and tie plate, and

Figure 4 is a side view of the clip taken by itself.

In the drawing like characters of reference del0 note corresponding parts in the different views.

A railroad rail is designated generally by W, the rail having the usual head A, web B and base flange C. X represents as a whole a tie plate for support of the rail, the tie plate including a l5 rail base supporting portion I and side extensions 2 and 3. Each extension has a parallel shoulder 4 running the length of the plate, each shoulder having a cut-out portion 5 for the reception of a ypart of the spring clip of my inven- 20 tion for the purpose to be explained later. 'Ihe cut-out portionsmay be removed by punching, or the plate when rolled may be formed with these portions. In the extension 2 is an opening 6 for a spike 1 and in the extensions 3 is an opening g5 8 for a spike 9, shown as of the screw type. It is understood, of course, that the spikes 'l and 9 are for the purpose of holding the tie plate X upon a cross-tie generally designated by Y and for the purpose of retaining the spring cl'ip in 30 position upon the base ange of the rail, all of which will be explained later in detail. It is to be understood also that the cut spike 1 and screw spike 9 are shown for illustration only and any other suitable type of fastening may be used as as previously stated.V

It is to be understood further that two spring clips are used with each tie plate, the clips being on opposite sides of the rail. As the construction and function of the clips are the same. 40 it is thought that a description of only one clip is necessary. Also, the clip is adapted for use with other types of tie plates than the one above described.

The clipof my invention, shown in detail by 45 Figure 4, is made from rectangular shaped spring steel material, properly heat-treated and when in use is substantially Z-shaped, having a horizontally disposed slightly arched leg I0, a second horizontally disposed slightly arched leg Il, the

A legs being connected by a substantially vertical web I2. In the leg I0 is a spike opening i3 in alignment with opening 6 in extension 2 of the tie plate.

The end portion of the leg I0 has a. substantially flat tie plate bearing surface I4 and a second substantially flat tie plate bearing surface I5. Between these bearing surfaces is an arched portion I6, thus definitely establishing the location of bearing and in addition permitting a certain amount of spring action of the leg III under conditions to be explained later. 'Ihe other leg II of the clip also has a substantially flat end bearing surface I1 for contact with the flange C of the rail. Between the surface I1 and the portion of the leg where it joins the web I2, the leg is bowed upwardly as at I8 to provide spring action of the leg under certain circumstances.

'Ihe clip when in operative position has a portion of its web I2 located in the cut-out portion 5 of the shoulder 4 of the tie plate X, the opposite sides ofthe web portion being in contact with the walls IS of the cut-out portion as shown particularly by Figs'. 1 and 3. This contact prevents rotation of the clip around the spike as a pivot. It is to be noted that between the bowed-up portion I8 of the leg II of the clip and the edge of the base of the rail there is a clearance for the purpose to be explained later.

After the rail is located upon the tie plate with its base flange adjacent the shoulders 4,-the clip is placed in position with its web portion I2 in the cut-out portion 5. The clip is shaped so that when placed in the position described, it contacts the tie plate at I4 and the rail base at I1 and is clear of the plate at I5 by an amount sufllcient to produce the desired rail holding force at I1 when the clip is deflected by the fastening. The spike is then driven through the opening I3 in the leg I0 and the aligned opening 6 in the plate and thence into the tie. The top surface of the leg I0 adjacent the spike opening is curved so the contact of the spike head and the clip always occurs at the desiredlocation when the parts are assembled. When theclip is thus secured in place, the leg I0 contacts the plate through bearing surfaces I4 and I5,.and 'the leg II contacts an upper surface of the rail flange C solely through bearing surface I1. Thus, normally, each clip has a two-point contact with the plate and a single point contact with the base of the rail.

When being travelled upon the rail W undergoes a wave motion for reasons well known to those familiar with the art of railroading. It is at such a time that my novel spring clip fastener operates to limit the upward movement of the rail and, at the same time, to prevent longitudinal movement of the rail on the tie plate and mechanical wear of the rail, tie plate, and tie. Upon only slight upward movement of the rail the spring resisting force of arm II starts to come into play. Upon further upward movement of the rail this force increases and is at its maximum when the outer edge C of the rail base contacts the under side of arm II, thus shortening the length of the bowed-up portion I8 of the arm and thus tending to resist further vertical upward movement of the rail. By shortening the'length of arm II, the strength of the clip fastener to resist furtherupward motion of the rail at point C' is materially increased. The

-spring clip is designed to have such strength and flexibility as to permit of upward movement of the bearing surface I1 of the arm II, when contacting the rail flange, of approximately 1A; inch without exceeding the elastic limit of the spring. V

From this it will be seen that the spring clip of my invention provides an initial force to secure the rail to the tie plate; an additional spring resisting force which increases in proportion to the upward movement of the rail through a distance of approximately 1A; inch; a definite limit against further upward movement of the rail beyond 1/8 inch.

During the upward movement of the rail, up to and including the time at which the pressure of edge C" of the flange of the rail is against the under side of leg II of the clip, spring resisting force is carried to the tie plate through leg I0 at point I4. In other words, as the pressure of the rail flange edge increases against the under side of the clip leg II, by simple leverage action the pressure of the spring surface I4 on the tie plate also increases. This increase in pressure at I4, together with the initial pressure at I4 obtained by deflection of the spring into place when its fastening is secured, serves to prevent movement of the tie plate on the tie and resultant mechanical wear of thetie.

From the above it will be seen that I have provided a spring clipwhich is cheap to manu-- facture, easily and definitely applied and one which functions to safely and efficiently hold the rail upon its plate; to hold the plate upon its tie; and to prevent pulling or loosening of the spike.

While the form of embodiment of the present invention as herein disclosed, constitutes a preferred form, it is to be understood that other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of the claims which follow.

I claim as my invention:

1. A spring clip fastener assembly vfor rails, comprising a rail having a base flange, a tie plate having a portion for supporting said rail, an extended portion integral with said plate, a rection of`which is arched cooperating with said extended portion of said plate to create an inl-itial spring resisting force upon said extended portionthrough the medium of said arched portion, said clip having a second leg connected to said first leg by means of a web and contacting Vthe top surface ofsaid base flange to create an initial spring resisting force thereon, said first and second mentioned legs each being adapted to create additional force upon said plate and base flange respectively upon an u pward movement of the rail and additional contact of said base flange with the under side of said second leg,

"..tangiilar-shaped spring clip having a leg a porand non-resilient means to secure said clip to r said extended portion of said plate and to prevent said arched portion from moving vertically in relation to said tie plate. A

2. A spring clip fastenerY assembly for rails, comprising a railvhaving a base flange with. an outer edge, a tie plate having a portion for supporting said rail, an extended portion integral with said plate, a rectangular-shaped spring clip having a leg a portion of which is arched cooperating with said extended portion to. create an initial spring resisting force upon said extended portion through the medium of said arched portion, said clip having a second leg connected to said rst leg by. means of a web and contacting the 'top surface of said base flange to create'an initial spring resisting force thereon, said first and second mentioned legs each being adapted to create additional force upon said plate and base flange respectively upon upward movement of the rail and contact of said base flange edge with the under side of said second leg, and non-resilient means to secure said clip to said extended portion of said Plate and to `prevent said arched portion from moving vertically in relation to saidl tie plate. V

3. A spring clip fastener assembly for rails, comprising a rail having a base flange, a tie plate having a portion for supporting said rail, an extended portion integral with said plate, -a shoulder separating said extended portion and rail `supporting portion, a rectangular-shaped spring clip having a leg a portion of which is arched cooperating with said extended portion of said plate to create an initial springresisting force upon said extended portion through the medium of said arched portion, said clip'having a second leg connected to said first leg by means of a web and contacting a top surface of said base flange to create an initial spring resisting force thereon, said first and second mentioned leg each being adapted to create additional force upon said plate and base flange respectively upon upward movement of the rail and additional contact o said base flange with the under side of said Asecond leg, a recess in said shoulder, in which said web is positioned, the walls of said recessadapted to prevent rotation of said spring clip and non-resilient means to secure said clip to said extended portion of said plate and to prevent said arched portion from moving vertically in relation to said tie plate.

4. A spring clip for securing a rail to a tie plate comprising an arched resilient leg adapted to contact the tie plate at two points and initially resist movement of said tie plate and a bowed resilient leg adapted to initially contact the base flange of the rail at one point, said bowed leg contacting the rail base flange at a `second point upon upward movement of the rail 'whereby said bowed leg offers increased resistance to further upward movement of said rail :and said twopoint contact of said arched leg oiiers' increased resistance against movementv f'the, tie plate.

5. A spring clip fastener assembly for rails, comprising a rail having a base flange, a tie plate having a portion for supporting said rail, an extended portion integral with said plate, a rectangular-shaped spring clip having an arched leg having a two-.point contact with said extended portion of fsaidplate to create an initial spring resisting force upon said extended portion through the medium of said arched portion, said clip having a second bowed-up leg connected to said first leg by means of a web and having a single point contact with the top surface of said base flange to create an initial spring resisting force thereon, said first and second mentioned legs each being adapted to create vadditional force upon said plate and base ange respectively upon upward movement of the rail and additional contact of said base flange with the under side of said second leg. and nonresilient means to secure said clip to said extended portion of said plate and to prevent said two-point contact leg from moving vertically in relation to said tie plate.

6. A spring clip fastener assembly for rails, comprising a rail having a base ange, a tie plate having a portion for supporting said rail,

`an extended portion integral with said plate, a rectangular-shaped spring clip having an arched each being adapted to create additional force upon said plate and base` anges respectively upon upward movement of the rail and additional contact of said'base ange 4with the under` side of said second leg, and non-resilient means" to secure said clip to said extended portion of said plate and to. prevent said two-point contact leg from moving vertically in relation to said tie plate.

7. A spring clip fastener assembly for rails, comprising a rail having a base ange, a .tie plate having a portion for supporting said rail, an extended portion integral with said plate, a

l shoulder separating said extended portion and rail .supporting portion, a rectangular-shaped spring clip havinga resilient arched leg having a .two-point contact with said extended portion of said plate to create an initial spring resisting force upon said extended portion, said clip having a second resilient bowed-up leg connected to said rst leg by means of a web and having a single point contact with the `top surface of said base flange to create an initial spring resisting force thereon, said first and second mentioned legs each being adapted to create additional force upon said plate and base flangerespectively upon upward movement of the rail and additional contact of said base flange with the under side of said leg, a recess in said shoulder,

said web being positioned in said recess, whereby the walls of said recess prevent rotation of said spring clip and non-resilient means to secure said clip to said extended portion of said plate and to prevent said two-point contact leg from moving vertically in relation to said tie plate.

GERALD M. MAGEE. 

